Chapter 8: Race-Avoidant Discourse in School Library Preparation Program Standards

The field of library and information science (LIS) faces a long-standing lack of discourse on topics relating to race, racism, and whiteness, which can be attributed in part to concepts such as vocational awe and neutrality. This chapter explores whether this practice of race-avoidance has filtered down from scholarly discourse to practitioner-facing documents in school librarianship by analyzing the ways that topics of race, racism, and whiteness are discussed in educational and accreditation standards that shape the curriculum of school library preparation programs.